leaped up from the wild-sage bushes, gazed
eagerly at us, and then, erecting his white tail, stretched away like a
greyhound. The two Indian boys found a white wolf, as large as a calf in
a hollow, and giving a sharp yell, they galloped after him; but the wolf
leaped into the stream and swam across. Then came the crack of a rifle,
the bullet whistling harmlessly over his head, as he scrambled up the
steep declivity, rattling down stones and earth into the water below.
Advancing a little, we beheld on the farther bank of the stream, a
spectacle not common even in that region; for, emerging from among the
trees, a herd of some two hundred elk came out upon the meadow, their
antlers clattering as they walked forward in dense throng. Seeing us,
they broke into a run, rushing across the opening and disappearing
among the trees and scattered groves. On our left was a barren prairie,
stretching to the horizon; on our right, a deep gulf, with Laramie
Creek at the bottom. We found ourselves at length at the edge of a
steep descent; a narrow valley, with long rank grass and scattered trees
stretching before us for a mile or more along the course of the
stream. Reaching the farther end, we stopped and encamped. An old huge
cotton-wood tree spread its branches horizontally over our tent. Laramie
Creek, circling before our camp, half inclosed us; it swept along the
bottom of a line of tall white cliffs that looked down on us from the
farther bank. There were dense copses on our right; the cliffs, too,
were half hidden by shrubbery, though behind us a few cotton-wood trees,
dotting the green prairie, alone impeded the view, and friend or enemy
could be discerned in that direction at a mile's distance. Here we
resolved to remain and await the arrival of The Whirlwind, who would
certainly pass this way in his progress toward La Bonte's Camp. To go
in search of him was not expedient, both on account of the broken and
impracticable nature of the country and the uncertainty of his position
and movements; besides, our horses were almost worn out, and I was in no
condition to travel. We had good grass, good water, tolerable fish
from the stream, and plenty of smaller game, such as antelope and deer,
though no buffalo. There was one little drawback to our satisfaction--a
certain extensive tract of bushes and dried grass, just behind us, which
it was by no means advisable to enter, since it sheltered a numerous
brood of rattlesnakes. Henry Chat